JF Gauthier - Afrikan Heroes

Scaling Secrets Exposed: Startup Genome Report Delivers Game-Changing Insights

September 22, 2023

In a momentous unveiling at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Melbourne, the Startup Genome has introduced “The Scaleup Report,” a definitive exploration of the intricate factors that propel startups toward the illustrious realm of scaleups. Presented by JF Gauthier, the Founder and CEO of Startup Genome, this report unravels the enigma behind what distinguishes prosperous scaling startups from those that falter. Moreover, it proffers practical insights of immense value to entrepreneurs, enterprise support organizations, and policymakers fervently endeavoring to elevate the proportion of startups achieving the coveted $50 million+ valuation.

JF Gauthier, the Founder and CEO of Startup Genome

This groundbreaking report derives its strength from an unparalleled treasure trove of data sourced from the most exhaustive dataset on startup ecosystems. This rich resource harnesses the wisdom accrued over a decade of rigorous longitudinal research, scrutinizing hundreds of objective metrics associated with tens of thousands of startups that have participated in Startup Genome’s comprehensive founder survey. Enriched further by contributions from eminent thought leaders, including the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Dealroom, the report stands as a testament to over a decade of independent research, assessment, and policy strategy work undertaken by Startup Genome.

Key revelations from “The Scaleup Report” are as follows:

Founders’ Strategy for Scaling: Founders aspiring to enhance their prospects of scaling must ensure they offer stock options to all employees, cultivate more than five global connections to top ecosystems, and enlist at least three advisors for their nascent ventures.

Local Connectedness and Revenue Growth: Startups wielding a Local Connectedness Index score of 6 or above achieve a 5.1% scaleup rate, a significant boost compared to the 3.8% rate for those scoring 2 to 4. Higher Local Connectedness correlates with revenue growth that’s twice as rapid.

Global Connectedness and Scaleup Success: Scaleup success directly correlates with Global Connectedness, with highly connected startups boasting a 3.25x higher chance of scaling. Ecosystems deeply intertwined with top global counterparts, such as Silicon Valley, New York City, and London, see their startups attain global prominence at a substantially higher rate.

Global Scaleup Leaders: The United States, China, and the United Kingdom reign as the top countries by the number of total scaleups, with the U.S. leading the pack with 7.1K scaleups — 4.8x more than China and 11.5x more than the U.K. India, Canada, Germany, Israel, France, South Korea, and Singapore follow closely.

Venture Capital Investment: Top countries for VC investment in scaleups include the U.S., China, India, the U.K., and Germany. North America commands a lion’s share, contributing to 55% of global VC investments in scaleups, with the U.S. alone accounting for 53%.

Global Expansion and Revenue Growth: Early-stage startups with a global customer base (more than 50% foreign customers) experience revenue growth that is twice as swift as those without. For non-U.S. startups targeting the global market initially, the scaleup rate doubles.

B2B and Global Focus: B2B and mixed startups that set their sights on the global market from the outset enjoy higher scaleup rates than B2C startups. B2B startups that initiate global targeting from day one achieve a remarkable 6.8% scaleup rate.

Serial Founders and Motivation: A third of all current scaleups are founded by serial entrepreneurs, who exhibit an 85% higher scaleup rate compared to their counterparts. Founders driven by a desire to accumulate wealth exhibit the strongest correlation with scaleup success, followed by a desire to effect change and create exceptional products.

Funding Sources: Founders relying on friends for funding are more likely to foster scaleups than those with personal or family resources.

Age Bracket and Scaleup Success: Scaleup success tends to peak among founders in the 26–40 age bracket, both in terms of scaleup rate and the absolute number of scaleups.

JF Gauthier, the visionary Founder & CEO of Startup Genome, aptly remarks, “The quintessential billion-dollar question has always been what characteristics, behaviors, and decisions of early-stage startups significantly increase your chance of success at scaling.” The Scaleup Report, a product of 11 years of exhaustive primary research involving nearly 100,000 startup founders globally, provides empirically grounded answers to this pivotal question.

Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, acknowledges, “The Global Entrepreneurship Network is proud to partner with Startup Genome on groundbreaking new research in The Scaleup Report to equip policymakers, investors, and support organizations with a timely, independently-verifiable way of identifying scaleups.” He further affirms the report’s role in delineating the critical success factors that set apart flourishing scaleups.

Yoram Wijngaarde, Founder & CEO of Dealroom, emphasizes, “The data shows definitively that startups can scale anywhere in the world.” He underscores that the pace of global distribution in entrepreneurship and venture investing is accelerating, marking the advent of a global innovation era.

To delve deeper into this comprehensive report, access it in its entirety at Scaleup Report (available since September 20).

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Kenya’s Untapped Global Raises $3 Million Seed Round for Its Real-Time Data Platform

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard

Cape Town Displaces Lagos As The Most Valuable Startup Ecosystem In Africa — New Report

September 22, 2021

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, has given way to South Africa’s Cape Town as the top startup ecosystem in Africa, according to the latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report released by Startup Genome, in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network. According to the report, African ecosystems are now worth $6.6 billion in total. Cape Town, Lagos, Johannesburg, Nairobi, and Accra account for $6 billion of that total.

*JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO of Startup Genome*

“Entrepreneurs, policymakers, and community leaders in Africa have been working hard to build inclusive innovation ecosystems that are engines of economic growth and job creation for all,” said JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO of Startup Genome. “The Global Startup Ecosystem Report is the foundation of knowledge where we, as a global network, come together to identify what policies actually produce economic impact and in what context.”

With data from over 3 million companies across 280 ecosystems, the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (#GSER2021) claims it is the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read research on startups. The report lists the top 30 worldwide ecosystems and the top 10 runner-up ecosystems, as well as a top 100 list of emerging ecosystems.

For the 2021 rankings, Global Startup Ecosystem Report rated ecosystems across seven performance indexes. They are: Performance; Funding; Market Reach; Talent & Experience; Connectedness; Knowledge

Here Is What You Need To Know

According to the report, the average amount of early-stage funding in African startup ecosystems during the GSER period was $46.5 million, more than double the amount seen the previous year.

Fintech dominates early-stage investment in Africa, according to the research, with over $206 million spent in the Sub-Sector between January 2018 and June 2020.

It claims that the overall exit value in Africa was over $1.1 billion, with Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban topping the list.

The research also lists Kampala, Abuja, Durban, and Kigali as Africa’s top regional challengers in that order.

Lagos Comes Back Top In Africa On The Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems Ranking

Despite falling behind Cape Town in terms of valuation, Lagos still ranks first in Africa among the Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems worldwide. Last year it was third in Africa, behind Cairo and Cape Town.

Startup Genome assesses over 275 ecosystems across over 100 countries to rank the top 30 globally, runners-up, and since 2020, the top Emerging Ecosystems.

The top Emerging Ecosystems are still at their earliest stages of growth.

In the ten years between 2011 and 2020, the Top 100 emerging ecosystems spawned 124 billion-dollar startups, with 53 ecosystems accounting for the bulk. The Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems have a total ecosystem value of approximately $540 billion, up 55 percent from last year, according to the report.

In Africa, Lagos is ahead of Cairo which places second. Nairobi, Kenya is third, while Cape Town, South Africa, ranks fourth in Africa and 81st in the world.

This year, Mumbai rose to the top of the Emerging Ecosystems list once more. In terms of performance, funding, experience, and talent and experience, it outperformed all others.

Global Performance

Despite a difficult year for many, the top five global startup ecosystems remain at the top, with Silicon Valley topping the list for the second year in a row, followed by New York City and London, which are tied for second place.

At #4 and #5, respectively, are Beijing and Boston.

North America continues to lead the Global Rankings, with 50 percent of the Top 30 ecosystems originating from this region, followed by Asia with 27 percent and Europe with 17 percent.

One new entrant to the Top 10 global startup ecosystems is Tokyo, which is now ranked #9, up six spots from last year. This is partly due to a rise in the number of successful exits in Tokyo, which has resulted in an increase in the ecosystem value of the city.

In addition to Tokyo, three other ecosystems have risen through the ranks: Shenzhen has reached the Top 20 at #19, Philadelphia has risen 15 places from #43 to #28 this year, and Salt Lake-Provo has entered the Top 30 at #30.

Other than Tokyo and Philadelphia, the largest movers this year are Toronto-Waterloo, which jumped four spots from #18 in 2020 to #14, and Seoul, which jumped from #20 in 2018 to #16 this year.

This year sees two new entrants to the Runners-Up list — Research Triangle (the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, USA) and Dublin, Ireland.

For more on the report, visit https://startupgenome.com/report/GSER2021

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Why Lagos Is The Most Valuable Startup Ecosystem In Africa

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer